CGI is at the forefront of payments modernization and offers extensive payments solutions in such areas as payments hubs, financial messaging, liquidity management and watch list filtering. The intent of the teaming agreement is to add complementary functionality to the CGI payments solutions portfolio by integrating Ripple’s distributed financial technologies.

The firm has 16,000 finance professionals servicing clients across 5 continents and counts 23 of the top 25 banks in the Americas as customers along with 21 of the top 25 banks in Europe.

“We are delighted to reach this agreement with Ripple and enter into the discovery phase with them,” said Jeff Miller, Vice-President, Financial Solutions Group, CGI. “We look forward to working with Ripple to develop an integrated distributed financial technology solution offering that complements our current global payments solutions portfolio.”

CGI joins the likes of Accenture and D+H, technology service providers that will help Ripple scale its enterprise-grade solutions.

Ripple participated in a breakfast hosted by CGI that included fifty or so representatives of the top global banks and central banks. Panelists included: Jerry Norton, Vice-President, Financial Services for CGI Michael O’Loughlin, Director of Consulting for CGI Patrick Griffin, Head of Business Development for Ripple.

Highlights from the talk:

Michael: It’s a challenging time for banks but it’s not a question of if but when. Blockchain technology works. Don’t sit on the fence; it’s time for collaboration.

Jerry: Six months ago, we presented with Ripple at NACHA. Since then, Ripple has legitimized the debate. The debate has also spawned other paths beyond payments.

Michael: We believe Ripple is the answer for the cross-border payments use case. Banks need to come together to collaborate. With others, it will take 1-2 years to realize the benefits. With Ripple, it’s ready today.